John 10: What a Good Shepherd Does

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." [John 10:11]

Jesus words to the unbelieving Jews contained one of the most beautiful expressions of His own role in the whole Bible, "I am the good shepherd."  Who doesn't know the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."  It is clear that Jesus is claiming to be the Lord, here.  The indirect claim left the Jews frustrated, so they said, "How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." [24]  At last he said to them, "I and the Father are one." [30] At this, they took up stones to stone Him as a blasphemer. 

Then the Lord answered them in a truly astonishing way.  He said, 

"Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods".'?  If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?"

Here Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6, where God calls them gods and children of the Most High. It is astonishing that to God we who belong to Him are also gods. How could this be, since we are certainly creatures?  The only explanation I can imagine is that because man is made in the image of God, we are in THAT SENSE also gods.  This isn't an easy doctrine to grasp, but it is a very easy doctrine to abuse. 

What does it mean that we are gods?  Well, it doesn't mean we are equal with God, though for Jesus it DID mean equality. Man who is made in God's image is the rightful ruler of the world. This goes back to the Genesis command to "Rule the world", given to Adam and Eve.  The purpose of man is to reign over, or have dominion over the animal kingdom and the material world.  So we are not meant to just enjoy life, make a lot of money, sit back and be entertained until we die.  We are meant to reign in life.  Of course it doesn't mean we are to be tyrants either. If we are "gods" it is only as we yield to the Almighty God in obedience and faithfulness that we can maintain any divine right.

Jesus is the rightful Lord of all creation, since He is God's only begotten Son. So He explains and exemplifies what ruling and reigning looks like:  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep."  An ordinary shepherd might take care of the sheep, until he slaughters them and eats them.  Jesus instead says, "This is my flesh. Take and eat."  And he lays down His life to give us eternal life, rescuing us from the mouth of the Beast. 

As a shepherd (that is, a Bible teacher and mentor) for others, I must also lay down my life for His sheep. What does this mean to me?  I believe there is no higher calling in the whole of life than to "Go therefore and make disciples, teaching them to obey" Jesus.  To be called "Shepherd" is far greater than "Mr. President" or "Your Honor" or "Father" or "Pastor" or "Doctor".  But as a high calling, it is risky. Many fall when they take advantage of the sheep for personal gain or pleasure or aggrandizement of some other kind.  This is what robbers and wolves do.  The job of a good shepherd is not only to provide and care for sheep but also protect them, from such robbers and wolves. 

For this, we shepherds must lay down our lives.  This "laying down life" could take many forms.  But the most obvious looks like, it would seem, postponing or sacrificing altogether the pleasures, rewards and blessings of life, such as wealth and popularity and comfort, in order to serve and help God's people.  Even sacrificing SOME blessings is a good start, sacrificing some of my time to serve and teach and evangelize, some of my family time, personal time, recreation time, and some of the time spent in personal self-improvement, like study, piano and gym time.

I confess, it is hard to think of giving up any of these activities to go and train a church choir, serve a soup kitchen, or build an orphanage in Sudan.  But that's what Sam the "Machine Gun Preacher" did, even taking up arms to defend these children from evil slave-traders and gangs.  It was to him not too high a price to pay for God's flock even to leave his family behind for long periods.  Jesus did not take up arms, but he DID recommend it to the disciples (see Luke 22:36ff). 

Another thing God has been putting on my heart, for a very long time now, is open-air preaching.  I want to do so, and believe that God will empower me with the Holy Spirit as I obey this calling.  Yet I have not made time or effort to go out and preach on the campus or streets.  It feels like doing so is just asking to be stoned and persecuted. So I do not go.  

Finally, it may be God's will for me to plant a church here in Virginia.  I came here for that purpose in 2004, but till now have not done so.  It requires too great a commitment and seems to involve much risk.  God is putting it on my heart.  May God help me to know what He would have me to do, in these matters.  Amen.

Empowering the next generation

There are many ways to empower someone. We empower our children to succeed by sending them to school and college. We empower them morally by teaching them truth, helping them to know God. And we empower them physically by helping them exercise, eat right and get plenty of rest. But power for doing God's work ultimately does not come from these things. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit must empower us, or evangelism and discipleship in a church will founder. Sadly this was only mentioned, but not emphasized at all, in a recent conference I attended.

What would we have said? Only the obvious: that we must pray more and be more united in prayer, as the first century Christians, until the Spirit is given and the power to be his witnesses falls upon us afresh; and that we and our children can and should GO, not just think or talk or write, but also GO and preach and make disciples, heal the sick and help the poor, and do it all explicitly in Jesus' Name. HE must be lifted up if he would draw all men unto himself through our labor. [Jn 12:32]

Furthermore, we would have discussed that depending on the Spirit includes striving against temptation and sin. Far too little is said of this these days. If we do not teach the evilness of sin, how can we impress on anyone the need for a Deliverer? How will God be glorified if Christians live worldly, un-christlike, selfish lives?

I truly thank the Lord for this conference, despite the shortcoming. It is the simple truths that we must constantly reiterate, both to ourselves and our children. May God empower us all to do so. May God UNITE US IN PRAYER, for spiritual power, revival, strength, victory over temptation, and help in teaching our precious children the truths and values of Jesus Christ.

Not peace, but a sword

Today, as always, Oswald Chambers has a powerfully relevant message for preachers, and I cannot thank the Lord (and my friend B.P.) enough for pointing me to these devotionals.

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What Jesus says in Mt 10:34, is

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

This saying is where Chambers draws on his reasoning here:

Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One.

We should never dull the sword of the Lord, but keep it very clean and sharp. If we would let the sword do it's cutting, we cannot pretend to give peace to someone who has no peace with God, as by flattering and agreeable words. The message "repent" was never liked by those who had no mind to repent. So peace is destroyed as long as sin reigns. To really help people as a pastor is to give them the hard words. I love Misn. Sarah Barry, because she always exemplified this "mind of Christ". Whoever went to her to complain about someone else was rebuked first. For whether we have failed to forgive the person or harbor hate, justly or not, we are in the wrong. Hidden sin, likewise, loves to find fellow sinners to share company with. If we don't "hold high the standard of Jesus" to people, we cannot give them HIS peace, but only the superficial peace of this world, whereas

"Jesus Christ came to `bring . . . a sword' through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself."

Wielding this sword is hard and painful to us, as to those who must suffer the blow to their false peace. But this is the spiritual warfare we are truly engaged in, and we shepherds must not shrink back.

As for me, dealing with my children may be the hardest place to apply this. They do not want me, as their father, to make them feel bad when they harbor spiritual enmity in their hearts. If the young generation does not even HEAR Jesus' message of repentance and faith, what chance do they have to follow it? So we must not lower the standard as parents, nor as pastors. To carry both crosses is perhaps not so bad when we consider that they are one in the same, only the pastor cares for ALL children, not merely his own.

Lord, give me the grace and truth that filled your Son Jesus, and enable me to hold up his standard, faithfully, fearlessly. Move those you want to save to hear and obey.

Preach only Christ crucified

For Dec 17, Chambers writes, "The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel." And he goes on to demonstrate why this is a good thing. The things of God are foolish to the natural man [1 Corinthians 2:14, which is the text for this devotion.] Thus we don't know we need the good news until we hear it. While "Creating the need it satisfies" is a rather offensive kind of religious system to a worldly man---even though he uses the same thing in all his advertising and promoting his own business or wares---we surely have the need already. The gospel doesn't create a new need, but removes our ignorance of it AS it offers the one and only solution.

Anyway, the point he makes that is so beautiful is in the second paragraph. He writes,

Jesus said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself" (John 12:32). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is "lifted up," the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him.

What this means is that my preaching, if it does nothing else whatsoever, must lift up Jesus Christ. I have done nothing to advance Christ and his kingdom if I have only convinced my listeners of some moral or made a good point or entertained them with poetic and humorous anecdotes. Even if I bring them to tears with emotional stories or work them into a frenzy with sensational polemics, if I have not lifted up Jesus and shown people their need of HIM and his Truth, I have done nothing at all.

Lord, let me lift up Jesus alone. As my name Christopher means "bearer of Christ", let at least live up to that name. And when you are ready to use me, please send me in your Power to do it with all my heart and soul. Yes, you have already sent me. Lord, please forgive me for lifting up other things. Lord, I resolve to know nothing and preach nothing except Christ and him crucified. [1Cor 2:2] Father, help me to this end. IJNA